


Break My Bones

by MerMagicAnaLily



Series: Love is Pain [2]
Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Assault, Attempted Murder, Death Threats, Dumbass trio, Extreme Homophobia, Graphic Violence, Homophobia, Hospital, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, anti semitism, ghc, harrassment, just...add all the possible trigger warnings in your head
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 08:31:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20793704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerMagicAnaLily/pseuds/MerMagicAnaLily
Summary: Cyrus Goodman is terrified...and so is T.J. Kippen. One thing got taken too far and now, they don’t want to leave the hospital.Sequel to Sticks and Stones





	Break My Bones

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Assault  
TW: Attempted Murder  
TW: Suicide Mentions  
TW: Homophobia  
TW: Harassment  
TW: Cyberbullying  
TW: Anti-semitism  
Just all the Trigger Warnings, just to be safe. 
> 
> *

“Seriously Amber, you wouldn’t believe how undeniably amazing T.J. is working right now,” Cyrus said. “He’s walking with no problem now, and even though he gets frustrated, he’s taken on something similar to the 8th grade Buffy’s role with the basketball team.”

Cyrus walked around the park, talking on the phone to Amber, who was doing a foreign exchange for a semester and was currently in the south of France while her family hosted a French boy named Adrien. There were some people hanging around the otherwise empty but he didn’t pay too much attention to them since they were all murmuring to each other. 

“Though props go to Marty and Leo. They’ve been taking on more active leadership on the court...I think. You know T.J. and Buffy still have to walked me through it holding my hand. The day I understand sportsball is the day the world goes out of order. But what I do understand is that even though he can’t play full time yet, T.J. looks really cute sitting on the bench in his uniform. Hold on, I’ve got a picture…” he pulled the phone away from his face and switched apps, making it look like he hung up but he didn’t. 

The other guys in the park took that opportunity to go to Cyrus, and immediately deck him in the face, knocking him to the ground. He dropped his phone, but the volume was too low for anyone to be able to hear Amber on the other side of that call. Cyrus touched his cheek and looked up at the really scary looking guys looming over him. 

“Um...hey...I’m sorry...I think…” he stuttered, not daring to move. “Who are you?”

“Your boyfriend got our team captains in juvie, faggot,” one of them spat on him. Oh no...they were Jackson High kids. He had to get away, he had to run. “Look at that! The fairy’s too busy flying that he can’t run!” They gave him a hard kick until he was flat on his back. His phone was by one of the biggest guy’s foot, too far out of his reach. 

“I didn’t do anything to you guys...please…” he got out, fear starting to take over his body. He thought about T.J., and what T.J. looked like after that Jackson high game, the court case that ensued, even the bittersweet memory of him taking T.J. suit shopping and both of them trying on ties to find one that looked good and made him look more like a wounded puppy to the jury. 

“You fucking homos want to do something disgusting and for all of us to treat it like it’s okay,” another guy said, picking him up and holding his arms back while another guy started punching him, making Cyrus even more defenseless than usual. “Put a fucking homo on the court and humiliated Jackson.”

“We told your boyfriend he should have done the world a favor,” another guy said. “Maybe we can help this one out with that.”

“Wha...what are you talking about.”

“Shut the fuck up faggot,” one of them punched him again, making him double over. Cyrus just wanted all of this to be over, and he muttered a Yiddish curse word his mother always used whenever she hurt herself. “Faggot and a K*ke, of fucking course. Godless shitheads anyways.”

Cyrus’s blood ran cold and one of them spat in his face. “Please...let me go...I...I don’t want to bother anyone…”

“You already did. We want you gone.” Cyrus was about to scream when something was shoved into his mouth so he couldn’t scream and he felt something around his throat and felt it get tighter. Real fear wen through his body now, fear that he had never felt before, and fear that made every other time he was afraid seem like nothing. He was going to die. 

He tried to struggle, he tried to fight, to run, to do something, but he could barely make a sound, and his flailing arms weren’t really doing anything. He felt tears start to come out and heard the boys mocking his tears, laughing it up. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to run back to his house and be with all four of his parents, he wanted to listen to Aunt Ruthie steamroll about one story or other about his cousin Rachel until she fell asleep mid sentence, he wanted to see another one of Andi’s artworks, make more signs for Buffy’s basketball games, dance around to Jonah’s music, share fro-yo with Amber again...he wanted to be with T.J. He desperately wished he could be in his arms, watching a Disney movie and having debates about who would win in a fight: dinosaurs or dragons, share baby taters at The Spoon, even if T.J. preferred dipping it in mayo like a heathen...he wanted that. 

His vision was tunneling and he was losing air. He didn’t know what else to do, so even though it was muffled by the fabric pretty much shoved down his throat, tears flowing from his eyes, he looked up at the deceptively happy blue sky and he just started to pray. He prayed desperately, and he wasn’t one to normally beg for miracles, but he could sure use one now, even as he steadily lost hope as his vision went black.

* * *

“I can’t believe this is happening...I can’t believe it…” Leslie paced the hallway. “Sam...what are we supposed to do?”

Samuel, sat on a chair outside the door, hunched over and holding the back of his neck. “I don’t know…I never thought I would have to prepare for this…” he said. “I mean, I was a little worried when he came out to us, but I thought that was just some bullies, maybe getting shoved into a locker or something like that. With T.J...I was more scared, but I thought that was going to stay in the Jackson High area, that if he stayed in Shadyside, he’d be safe…” 

They both were struggling with words. “They tried to kill our son…” she sat down on the chair next to his and started crying with her face in her hands, and her ex-husband put his arm around her shoulders, holding back tears of his own. 

“Thank god for Amber,” he said softly. Amber was still on the phone with Cyrus when he was assaulted and with some quick thinking, she FaceTimed her mother at work and had her mother call 911 for Cyrus. The cops caught them actively choking and beating up Cyrus and arrested them, and finding Cyrus unconscious as they took him to the hospital. Cyrus woke up just minutes before his birth parents arrived, his step-parents dealing with things on the home front, and asked to be alone. At first, his parents didn’t want to leave him until he started begging, literally unable to form words since his throat was still recovering.

The doors opened and T.J. came in, wearing workout clothes and trailed by his mother, Emily. T.J.’s face was hard, unmoving, but both Leslie and Sam could easily see that he was just trying to hold himself together. He saw the two of them and started going to the door they sat in front of. 

“T.J…” Emily went to grab his arm but he shook her off, trying to get to the door. He did stop in front of Cyrus’s parents, not saying a word but just looking at them absolutely desperate. They exchanged a glance and looked back at him. 

“If he lets you…” she said. “He didn’t want us earlier.” T.J. nodded and walked in.

* * *

Cyrus heard the door open and he was about to weakly protest again until he saw him. T.J. was holding on as strongly as he could, but Cyrus saw the arm holding the doorknob after he closed it behind him shake a little, his green eyes looking all over Cyrus before meeting his eyes. Cyrus gave a small, almost imperceptible nod and his arm dropped from the door and he started grabbing a chair to bring closer to the bed but Cyrus scooted over, making room. 

T.J. understood immediately and kicked off his shoes before unzipping his hoodie and sliding in next to him in the bed, putting the jacket around Cyrus. Neither spoke, but they didn’t need to. Cyrus took his hand and they leaned into each other, letting silent tears fall. They were already scared when T.J. got beat up. Now, they were absolutely terrified. 

They just needed to be with each other right now, holding each other, and reminding each other that they had each other, what they meant to each other. What else could they possibly do? They sobbed quietly, the knuckles of their intertwined hands turning white. 

* * *

“What did they say about Cyrus?”’ Emily asked after a while, after it was clear that Cyrus wanted T.J. to be with him. 

“He was unconscious when he got here,” Leslie said, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. “His windpipe is still a bit crushed...there’s some internal bruising, a broken rib...Amber said she heard everything they called him through the phone and how many times he was punched and kicked…he never did anything to hurt them...he couldn’t...Cyrus can’t even hurt a fly if he tried.”

“I know,” Emily said. “T.J. was always rough around the edges, and he used to be mean to other people, put up barriers...Cyrus changed him for the better. T.J. used to be that sweet boy until he made some bad friends...Cyrus brought my sweet boy back.” She looked at that door. “When I saw him after that Jackson High game...those hurtful words on his face...and he still was trying to send Marty away, trying to protect him...that wasn’t always T.J.”

“Cyrus always sees the good in people. It’s like he has X-ray eyes. He always knew when people were mean without any chance of wanting to be redeemed, and who needed just a little care to show the good side,” Samuel said. “When he was young and we were both dating, we always had Cyrus home before the first date to meet the person. Todd and Sharon were the ones who passed each and every evaluation...Cyrus loved them and they loved him too.”

“Cyrus is easily the best thing to happen to T.J. so far,” Emily said. “And Jackson High is the worst…”

A nurse approached them. “I’m sorry, visiting hours are over for today, you’ll all have to leave and come back tomorrow morning.”

Leslie looked at the door. “Must we really?”

“We’ll take good care of him, and you’ll see him again tomorrow. Of course you can go in and say goodnight, we’re not heartless.”

“No it’s not that,” she said. “His boyfriend is in there...I don’t think he’ll want him to go…”

“Ma’am, the hospital has visiting hours to make sure we don’t go over capacity during the night...anyone who wants to stay over does have to pay a $750 fine…”

“We’ll pay it,” Samuel said. 

“They’ll also need changes of clothes and stay clean, especially with someone who has as many cuts and bruises as your son.”

“I’ll go rush home and pack a small bag. Would I be allowed to come back outside of visiting hours to give it to him?”

“Of course. There’s a small shower inside your son’s private room so also bring some shampoo and such.” She looked at them. “Normally parents aren’t this accepting of someone’s high school boyfriend or girlfriend staying over.”

“You don’t know these kids…” Leslie said, peeking her head in and seeing them both asleep, holding each other with tear stained cheeks. “I’ll text him...I don’t want to wake him up.”

* * *

T.J. was shaken awake by a nurse and he blinked up, carefully looking at her and trying not to disturb Cyrus, who had his head on T.J.’s shoulder. His eyes glanced to the clock on the back wall and saw it read 10:30. “Please don’t make me go…” he pleaded softly. 

“You don’t have to. Your parents and his took care of that. But your mother just came by with a small bag for you. You can stay the entire time he’s here, but you have to be extra clean around him since he has open wounds.” T.J. nodded. “The bathroom is through there, and I’ll bring you both something to eat so you don’t wake up too hungry.”

“Thank you...nurse…?”

“Sanders,” she smiled. “Nurse Sanders. If you need anything there’s a call button next to Mr. Goodman as well as one in the bathroom between the toilet and the shower. I’ll also leave you some extra pillows and blankets on that chair.” She turned and left and T.J. slowly tried to free himself from Cyrus without waking him. He was able to get out and only when he was rifling through the bag did Cyrus wake up and make a small noise. He could barely talk over a whisper, occasionally letting out a bit of a whine. 

“Please don’t go…”

“I won’t,” T.J. went back and took Cyrus’s hand, kissing the back. “The nurse just told me that for me to stay here, I have to take a shower so I don’t get all my gym stink on you.” 

Cyrus cracked a small smile. “You won’t leave?”

“They’d have to drag me out by my hair with my arms and legs tied together. I’ll just be in there,” he gestured to the en-suite bathroom. “Then I’m coming back here, and we can watch something on my phone...or my iPad?” He saw his mom packed both his computer and his iPad in the bag along with some changes of clothes and pajamas. He grabbed the pajamas and gave Cyrus the iPad, unlocking it first. “Why don’t you find us something to watch when I get back?”

He nodded and opened up Hulu, giving T.J. a small smile. T.J. kissed the top of his head before disappearing into the shower, closing the door and letting out a long breath, holding onto the sink because he wasn’t sure his legs were going to keep him up. 

T.J. failed in keeping Cyrus safe...there were other players...baseball, basketball, didn’t matter, but other ones that weren’t the ones who beat him up and destroyed his car, who got him in the hospital, who put a leather belt around Cyrus’s neck and tried to kill him, told Cyrus that’s they were going to kill him. Cyrus thought he was going to die and T.J. had to dig his fingers into the porcelain sink as hard as he could to try and banish the thoughts of what he would do if Cyrus did die. He didn’t want to imagine that world. Especially since it was his fault. Cyrus was targeted for their goddamn kiss on a basketball court months ago. 

He collected himself as much as he could and pushed himself up, taking out his contacts and going into the shower, getting all the gel out of his hair and shampooing it before combing through the longer parts and getting out, getting dressed and putting his glasses on. He had to laugh a little because it would be the first time Cyrus would ever see him with his tortoiseshell, rounded square glasses, which a while back he would have dreaded, but now, if it meant staying with Cyrus, he’d put on clown makeup. 

He pushed the door open and gave Cyrus a loving smile, seeing him smile back. He picked up the extra pillows and blankets and got back in the bed with him. “Pick something out?” He adjusted both of their pillows and Cyrus nodded and started Steven Universe. T.J. put his arm around him and held him close, smiling at the nurse who came by with some soup for Cyrus and a sandwich for T.J. and telling them to eat before they went to sleep. 

T.J. kept his arm around Cyrus all through the night, even watching when he nodded off to sleep on his chest, gripping his shirt. He tried to keep his eyes off of every bruise he could, but there were so many of them, including the ugly one wrapping around his neck. He never felt so much hatred against someone, not even the ones who got him in the hospital. Hurting Cyrus was too far, only for heartless people. T.J. loved Cyrus, he really did. They had said they loved each other sometime around their sophomore year of high school and now they were juniors, and about halfway through the semester before winter break. How much longer would they have to deal with this? Where would they even be able to go?

A small whimper from Cyrus snapped T.J. from his thoughts and he looked down at his chest before carefully sliding down the bed, moving Cyrus with him without waking him so they were both laying down more. What happens after he can think about later. Right now, he just needed to make sure Cyrus was okay.

* * *

The next day, Cyrus let all four of his parents come in and see him, but the grip he had on T.J.’s hand made it clear that he was going nowhere. He didn’t even let T.J. up to change out of his glasses and put in contacts before the onslaught of adults came in to check in on Cyrus and make sure he was feeling good, that he was warm enough, fed enough, comfortable enough, seeing the nurses enough, T.J. was mostly there as his emotional support boyfriend.

When Cyrus wasn’t looking, a nurse came in and pulled his mother out of the room, and Leslie saw Andi, Buffy, Marty, and Jonah all standing around, looking like they were trying to swallow a rock. “What’s going on guys?” She asked. “Cyrus is in there, he’d love to see you.”

“We will,” Buffy said. “But we...we don’t want to worry him just yet...not too much…”

“What’s going on?”

Andi pulled out her phone and showed Leslie the Reddit page she found. Leslie looked at it and gasped. It had the picture of Cyrus and T.J. kissing at that now infamous basketball game and pages and pages of homophobic responses to it, graphically describing what they would like to do, and throwing in some Jewish slurs directed towards Cyrus. Then there were pictures of T.J. after he was beat up, and praise under it for the boys who did it as well as people rejoicing on the news that Cyrus was almost killed saying “they should have finished the job.” The part that chilled Leslie the most was one of the more recent posts. 

“How do they have all of our addresses…?” She gasped. “I...I...the police…”

“We reported it to the police who are giving it to cyber crimes now,” Buffy said. Marty was silent, sitting on the chair and looking at the floor. “I think you guys need to move regardless...and maybe try to keep them both here as long as possible…” 

“You’re right,” she said, looking at the reddit page. “I’m going to tell Todd and Samuel and Sharon...you guys…you should see him...comfort him. Don’t tell him this just yet.”

“We can’t keep it,” Jonah said. 

“You’re right, but this happened yesterday. Give him a bit longer to rest and recuperate.”

* * *

It was two weeks later that they ended up telling them, showing them the page. “We keep reporting everything and Shadyside PD are really helpful,” Andi said. “But none of the IP addresses are from Shadyside, and the other departments are...they kinda let this go to the bottom of the pile. Your parents are all selling their houses.”

Cyrus and T.J. looked at the phone, T.J. squeezing Cyrus’s hand to remind him to breathe steadily. “That’ll take forever…” he whispered. “Nobody’ll want houses that have addresses posted here…”

“And even then, they found us this time,” Cyrus said. “If we move within Shadyside, they’ll find our addresses again…” 

T.J. locked the phone and gave it back to Andi. “Did they do anything yet?” The four of them exchanged glances and looked to the floor. “What did they do?”

“T.J.’s house got...a package. It had the play Romeo and Juliet in it…” Buffy said slowly. T.J. and Cyrus looked at her, telling her to continue. “And a knife and a vial of bleach…”

“They’re telling us to kill ourselves because of who we love…” Cyrus said, around a lump in his throat. His voice was slightly raspy but he could speak at a normal volume now and swallowing solid food wasn’t as hard and painful. “...original.”

“Yeah…” Buffy trailed off. 

“There’s more, isn’t there?” T.J. asked. 

Jonah chewed the inside of his cheek. “Cy...your mom’s house...someone spray-painted every inch of the house and the outside of the cars...and burned into the lawns...swastikas.”

“That’s...absolutely bone chillingly terrifying…” he said, he kept squeezing T.J.’s hand, trying to ground himself. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know…” T.J. muttered. “I think we should stay in here as long as possible? The hospital is safe...there’s physical therapy so that we can stay moving...there’s food here...security…”

“Teej,” Cyrus said softly. “We can’t stay here until we go to college.”

“I know,” he said. “Just...just until we can think...I mean you’re still not healed so…”

“You guys stay put,” Andi said, sitting on the edge of the bed and touching Cyrus’s other hand, which he held gratefully. “We’ll help figure this out...keep you guys safe. We’re pestering all the police stations constantly and Buffy’s mom is throwing her weight around over there...the guys who attacked Cyrus are facing 25 to life with attempted first degree murder…”

“They’re heroes on reddit,” Cyrus muttered. 

“And my mom is also getting on investigating that subreddit and seeing if there’s a way she can get it shut down for hate speech and instigating crimes,” Buffy continued. 

“And if you guys have to leave the hospital, you can stay at our houses so you’re not home,” Jonah said. Then Marty dropped his own phone in fear. 

“Hey…” Buffy went to him, and then saw the phone screen on the floor. “Oh no…”

“Let me guess, more bad news?” T.J. asked. “Did they get my ancestry DNA?”

“No…” Buffy said, picking up the phone and taking Marty’s hand. 

“They found tampons in the boys locker room...some guy from Van Buren High when they came over for a game and got changed in the locker room saw tampons in one of the lockers...they didn’t id whose locker yet…”

“Shit,” T.J. said and looked at Cyrus, who nodded and let go of his hand so T.J. could go comfort his best friend, with Jonah heading there too. Andi kept holding Cyrus’s other hand but watching from where she was. “Marty...are you...we’re all…”

“I’m going to the school and I’ll clean that out myself. Let them find me with the tampons,” Jonah said. “They’re not gonna do shit to me.”

“Thanks Jonah...I’m just...fuck...I…” he looked at the phone again. “Ever since the first incident with T.J...I’ve been wondering if it’s safe for me to present as a boy…”

“Marty...you can’t be serious…”

“I’m just scared...I don’t want to...presenting as a girl longer than I realized I was actually a boy...that messed me up badly, but...it has the chance of keeping me alive? I don’t know...I’m just scared…”

“Marty,” T.J. said, touching his shoulder. “I know how scary it is, believe me. I went through it…” he looked back at Cyrus. “But I don’t know if I would stop being myself or pretend to be someone I’m not. I can’t make that decision for you...but I’d kick the ass of anyone who dares say anything against you.”

“And I’d be the one helping him out and then helping both of you get out of trouble,” Jonah said laughing, and the three of them hugged. 

* * *

There was a meeting of the minds at the Mack house. None of the Goodmans or Kippens felt safe at their own house and Bex and Bowie made pretty great hosts. “Okay, so we move...then what?” Peter asked, holding his wife’s hand. “Will we just keep moving around every time they find our house?”

“And T.J. can’t ever do sports again?” Emily asked. “He loves basketball and baseball. But if he has to worry about showing up at away games...or having fun in general. You know, whenever he and Cyrus would go out, they’d be holding each other at home, being all lovey and cuddly but the instant the front door opens...they don’t think I see it, but I see them drop their hands so that they don’t look like a couple...they’ve stopped going out for dates…”

“Are they just supposed to wait until they’re in college to be able to go out as a couple again publically without being afraid?” Todd asked. 

“Neither left the hospital room because they like the idea of armed security guards…” Sharon said. “This is very depressing.” 

“We do also have another worry,” Emily said. “You guys know Marty has been living with us for a while now. If they treat T.J. and Cyrus this way...what would happen if someone outs Marty?”

Leslie was quiet up until now, but then she took a deep breath and started talking. “I have a sister in Long Island...Great Neck,” she said. “Big house and no kids, and the community is one of the LGBT friendliest I’ve seen, and it’s a 15 minute train ride down to the city where they can have fun. Maybe...we give the boys an option to move there? They can come down here on the holidays, and we can help the others send their kids up there for the weekends?” She shrugged. 

“Send our kids away?” Emily asked. 

“Well, we’re all tied down to the area in one way or another, so we can’t do more than move houses, and there’s only so many times we can do that,” Leslie said, and Samuel nodded. 

“Let’s ask your sister first, Les,” he said. “Then we give the boys the option if she says yes. And we’ll work from there?”

Peter and Emily looked at each other. “What else can we do?”

“Well...just think of it as...sending them off to college a year and a bit early,” Todd suggested. “They’re mature enough, right?”

“I think so,” Sharon agreed, and so did Peter and Emily.

* * *

“You guys are moving to New York?” Buffy asked, trying not to sound devastated. “Cyrus...when I thought I was moving...you were probably the most devastated.”

“Buffy...someone tried to kill me,” he said softly. They had left the hospital that morning and were staying at Bex and Bowie’s. He and T.J. were paranoid getting in and actually hid under the seats the entire ride until the car pulled into the garage and the door closed behind them. 

“I know...I’m…” she said. “I really don’t want to be selfish...I’m trying not to be selfish...but Andi’s at SAVA so I barely see her anymore, Marty is going with you, T.J. has kinda become a basketball bff...I’m gonna have to play ultimate, am I…” she laughed a little.

“Buffy,” Cyrus said. “Our parents said they can fly you up at least once a month, maybe even every other week and you can stay. Every extended weekend you can go to New York and we can have fun in the city! Broadway shows, museums, good food, things we cannot have at all in Shadyside.”

“I’m just gonna miss you...and everyone is going to think I’m Jonah’s new girlfriend the way I’ll have to cling on to him…” 

“Trust me, nobody who knows you would think that,” he laughed. “So...think the dumbass trio are still crying and saying goodbye?”

“Definitely, and you guys aren’t leaving for another week…” Buffy laughed a little. “Jonah and I are gonna be the last ones of our trios in school…”

“Well...call yourselves the Liaison Duo,” Cyrus said. “Connecting two trios into a friend group. Besides, you’ll have to deal with Jonah alone, who was the one who kept the group in control, to an extent. I’m gonna have the two more chaotic idiots to keep a leash on.”

“You’ll never be bored,” she laughed, giving him a side hug. “We’re gonna have sleepovers and movie nights here every night until you leave then,” she declared. 

“I’d really love that. We can put all the air mattresses together in a row and make a giant bed! Cuddle pile!”

“Alright, I’ll help coordinate the cuddle pile,” she promised. “Now since he’s not afraid of going out of the house yet, which again, sucks for you, I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. Only one more week.”

“Well...I’m gonna take Marty out on a date. We’ll bring you back the biggest pile of baby taters.”

“Oh...you found the thing I’m gonna miss the most from Shadyside!” Buffy laughed and slapped his arm. “Other than you and Andi and Jonah, of course.”

“Of course.”

* * *

_ (Two Weeks Later) _

“I hope you’re decent! I’m coming in!” 

T.J. and Cyrus groaned, pulling the covers over their heads when Marty bust the door open and started pulling the blankets off the bed. “Come on! If you guys are naked I’m grabbing the ice bucket.”

“Marty, shut the hell up,” T.J. groaned. “We’re not doing that.”

“Sure you aren’t…” he pumped his eyebrows as he got the sheets off and saw both of them with Jefferson Middle and Grant High T-shirts and sweatpants. 

“Marty I will smother you in your sleep with a dirty pillow,” T.J. threatened. 

“No you won’t,” Cyrus said. 

“No I won’t,” T.J. admitted. “But I’m going to fantasize about it.”

“Marty...It’s...okay T.J., you have permission to smother him. It’s 7:15 and there’s no school.”

“No, but it’s the day Buffy, Andi, and Jonah are coming!” He said. “You guys aren’t excited at trio reunion?!”

“I’m not as excited as you are...because they’re arriving AFTER noon,” T.J. said, throwing one of the pillows at Marty. It was Cyrus’s pillow, and Cyrus pouted and T.J. sighed, getting out of his big spoon position and letting Cyrus rest his head on his chest instead. “But if you make our breakfast, you can wake us up again in an hour.” He grabbed the blanket that was closest to him on the floor and put the blanket around them again. 

“Come on guys!!!”

“See you in an hour Marty,” Cyrus said, closing his eyes again. 

“You’re lucky you two are cute,” Marty mumbled, leaving the room. 

They were all adjusting to New York fairly well, and at school T.J. was able to convince the coach to let him and Marty try out for the team. They made it, but as alternates, though T.J. was promoted to JV co-captain, so he played on both of those teams and his strategies made him a shoe-in to be the captain of the team next year. 

Cyrus, meanwhile, joined the film society at the school and made a few student films. He was sure that he was going to look back on them a few years and cringe, but for right now, he was proud of himself and T.J. binged the shorts, making a whole deal about getting popcorn with extra butter and everything, and boasting about how he was dating the next Guillermo Del Torro. He loved seeing Cyrus blush at school whenever he said that. 

“Hey Teej?” Cyrus asked softly. T.J. grunted out an acknowledgement. “Are you really happy? Moving here?”

“Honestly? Yeah,” he said. “ I miss my parents and some of my other friends...but it’s nice feeling safe to hold your hand in the street and kiss you out in public again.”

“Yeah…” Cyrus said. “I love that too...and I love you.”

“I love you too.” He leaned down and Cyrus leaned up for a kiss. 

“Awwww,” Marty cooed from the open doorway and T.J. cracked an eye and stared down Marty. He looked at Cyrus quickly who sighed reluctantly and gave a nod of approval before moving his head off of T.J. and onto the single pillow left. 

“Half a second head start.” T.J. said. And Marty started sprinting, running away, and T.J. sprinted after him. 

**Author's Note:**

> *By reading this work, you agree to the terms and conditions**
> 
> **Terms and Conditions: upon completion of reading the work, you promise to leave a comment below. The comment may contain anything to the reader’s choosing, but the comment must be left there. Failure to so may result in extreme disappointment and sadness to the author’s soul.
> 
> BOOM, you just got lawyered! (Maybe law school isn’t a total waste of money)


End file.
